Decision details

To outline the review work carried out on 240 orphan sites that the Council currently maintains at its own costs, but does not own and to establish proposals for future ownership and maintenance of the orphan sites.

Approve the proposed treatment of the categories of orphan sites in respect to future ownership and maintenance arrangements, as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the Officer’s report, as follows:

a)  Maintenance activities to cease on the 60 privately owned sites and the one utility company site, as of 31 July 2016.

b)  Having been advised of the need to adopt the 66 sites identified as part of the Highway under their statutory function as the Highway Authority, the costs of maintaining these sites to be included in the negotiations already taking place with Cambridgeshire County Council.

c)  The additional costs of maintaining 23 Luminus sites to be directly recharged to Luminus for 2016/17.

d)  That the District Council adopt 42 of the orphan sites and continue to maintain these sites, having been identified in the review as sites being appropriate for the Council to own.

e)  Further review work to be carried out regarding the 23 sites yet to have ownership determined.

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To propose a resolution to a long standing anomaly regarding the orphan sites and to establish clear proposals for their future ownership and maintenance that are sustainable within the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.

None considered.

The proposals address the current spend of £35,170 on the maintenance of orphan sites that the Council does not own and it will contribute to the savings targets that the Operations Service has to make in accordance with approved Zero Based Budget proposals of £28,710.